China, which could outpace the U.S. this year as the world’s greatest greenhouse gas emitter, says it opposes emissions caps and objects to much of the draft of the latest UN climate change report.
China plans fast industrialisation for decades to come and says the government, “With uncertainties about climate change, there should not be premature or over-zealous setting of overall global carbon emissions caps.”
The country doesn’t dispute the gravity of global warming – a recent official assessment noted that intensified droughts and floods, unpredictable weather and rising sea levels could threaten long-term development.
Indeed, this week China sent 1000 firefighters to battle a forest fire across a 3 km (1.9 mile) area in its remote northeastern mountains. The State Forestry Administration said in January that China could face an “extremely serious” threat from forest fires this year because of global warming and the El Nino effect.
Still, The Global Times, a newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party, accused Western politicians last week of using “climate terrorism” to undermine China’s quest for prosperity.
China has been working hard to soften and change the wording of the soon-to-be released final UN climate change report.
China’s climate change assessment recommends cutting greenhouse gases in half for each dollar of economic activity by 2020. But it foresees emissions rising in absolute terms until at least 2050.
Loading...